"Yeah, there's pressure. You definitely feel it."
This was Jake Guentzel, shortly after the Penguins beat the Blackhawks, 3-2 by shootout, on this Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena. And he was describing for me that delicate moment when the puck reaches his blade off a pristine pass, he's facing a mostly open net that basically feels like the broad side of a barn, and everyone everywhere expects it's about to be a goal.
Him, too.
Let's set the scene: It's late in the second period. Chicago's scored both goals. The home team's either blowing chances or "giving up more odd-man breaks than we had all season," per Mike Sullivan's bluntness later, and it's all pretty bleak.
Until Evgeni Malkin revved up the engine, burst to the outside by the Blackhawks' Slater Koekkoek, and curls a pass back into the low slot for Guentzel ... and that big 'ol barn:
Looks academic, huh?
If only.
See, from this perspective, this has been these Penguins' most perplexing problem through 17 games: They create chances, even glorious chances like this one, and they don't properly bear down. Or worse, they don't bother shooting at all.
On this one, Guentzel, who's got a team-high eight goals and has been anything but an issue in this regard, makes sure he's got the puck, sees Corey Crawford bit badly on Malkin's rush by closing his five-hole, then absolutely buries it. Upstairs. With bleeping authority.
"You kind of track how much time you have, how open you are," Guentzel replied when I pressed what goes through his head in that split-second. "It's a great play by Geno, obviously. He made it easy for me."
He laughed.
"But yeah, I'm just trying not to mess that up. You feel it."
Same thing happened on Bryan Rust's tying goal midway through the third:
This, too, came via a virtuoso pass. John Marino, whose rookie maturation seems to be amazing everyone but him, takes Malkin's pass above the right circle, skates right into Jonathan Toews, sees Rust over on the far side, then uses Toews' shot-block formation against him and slips the puck through the Chicago captain's legs to Rust.
OK, well, since that's this feature's focus, fine.
I asked Rust, like Guentzel, his thoughts in that split-second. Because, also like Guentzel, he'd better put that away.
"Handle the puck. Get your head up. Put it in the net," Rust casually came back. "It's such a nice pass, it's a wide-open net ... just make sure you hit the net."
Rust's making up for lost time, having missed the season's first 11 games but now with five goals in his first six games back. He's not an issue in this finishing regard, either.
So who is?
Start with the collective: The Penguins are averaging 34.5 shots per game, second-most in the NHL, behind the Kings' 35.6. They're also No. 1 in five-on-five shots at 27.7. To fortify that those aren't flukes — their Corsi For percentage of 53.85 ranks second in the league behind the Flyers' 54.79, meaning their actual scoring chances are right on pace with their shots.
All of which is awesome. Obviously. And it's maybe the strongest statistical sign that they're playing, in general, the way Sullivan wants them to play.
Right up until the end.
Although they're at or near the top in shots and chances, their average of 3.35 goals per game ranks a comparatively modest ninth, their shooting percentage of 9.71 ranks 13th, their conversion rate of high-danger chances of 20.5 ranks eighth, and their power play ... ugh, does anyone really need numbers on that front?
How about 0 for their past 26 now?
For a while, the power play was doing everything but finish. Now, it's doing not much in any facet. Which is why, when Sullivan was asked after this game if he could pinpoint any one thing that's amiss with the power play, he monosyllabically replied, "No."
When I pressed if he still felt, as he had a couple weeks ago, that the finish was the killer, he elaborated, "I don't think it's that. When we've gone as long as we have without scoring on the power play ... I don't think it's any one thing. It's a combination of things. And part of it is that we've got guys who are pressing. Sometimes when you're trying too hard, you're not in an instinctive mindset."
That sounds about right. Really does.
Take Alex Galchenyuk. You and I have as many goals as he does this season. It's been eight games, he's battled back from an injury that bugged him through the preseason, and he's beyond pressing.
On this night, he skated as if he'd been set ablaze, he led the Penguins in shots (5) and attempted shots (7), and all he culled was a whole lot of this:
Yuck. There's a reason for that adage about snapping out of slumps with an ugly goal. Because it seldom happens with a between-one's-own-legs masterpiece.
Nick Bjugstad's also logged eight games. He's got one more goal than you and I.
On this night, he skated just as hard as Galchenyuk, put up four shots ... and hesitated with each:
Double-yuck. That's a fine pass from Dominik Simon. The recipient of that pass needs to shoot it immediately upon receipt. The goaltender already had to come across his crease. The element of chaos is already on his side. But by the time the shot ultimately is reduced to a whimpering low backhander, Crawford's got his ample time to plant his black pad along the ice.
Then there's this, which is 71 times the yuck:
Malkin had a terrific showing. Set up both of the Penguins' goals. Four shots. Sound distribution all over the rink. But I highlight that one because this roster doesn't have many more dangerous weapons than a Malkin wrister right from that range, particularly with that much traffic in the way. As a result, that's got to be a shot a billion times out of a billion.
Here's the positive from all this: Malkin's got two goals in the six games he's seen, and he'll wind up with a bunch more. Sidney Crosby's got five goals in his 17 games and, assuming his injury in this game isn't serious -- it sure looked to our staff afterward as if it isn't -- he'll wind up with a bunch more. So will Galchenyuk, who's averaged 20-plus goals per season in his NHL career. So will Bjugstad, who's averaged 18. So will Patric Hornqvist and Kris Letang once they return. So will Justin Schultz once the power play awakens.
There are teams that pile up tons of shot purposely to try to overcome a lack of skill. The Penguins aren't one of those. They're piling up shots because of their skill, as the possession metrics support. But they just aren't making enough of them count.
The key will be bearing down, not taking any opportunities for granted, not assuming there'll be more if this one doesn't go. Guentzel and Rust had surefire goals in this game that they made sure were surefire by bearing down.
The other night in Brooklyn, when Rust went flying down the right wing on a partial break, he peeked up, spotted an opening inside the far pipe and crushed it without breaking stride.
... because he shot with a purpose, not a prayer.
